This project aims to ADVANCE player skills, develop COMMUNITY links, ENHANCE club equipment and increase members' ability to SOCIALISE
by Nick Cumming in Ballymena, Mid and East Antrim, United Kingdom
Provide screening for the fences around our courts so as to give better protection against the elements bearing in mind our elevated and exposed location and purchase a weatherproof storage shed so that all equipment used by the Club can be kept on site
We are a tennis club with 5 courts based on school property. Our members range from age 4 to 87 and come from different backgrounds including several different nationalities.
BLTC would like to broaden its player base and build on its community club ethos by offering targeted coaching to specific groups including children with special educational needs, disabled members of the community, foreign nationals new to the area and senior citizens to help keep older players active both physically and mentally. To achieve this we will need to pay for additional club members to attend courses to gain an accredited coaching qualification.
We wish to purchase a weatherproof noticeboard to keep members advised of upcoming activities and events and new outdoor seating to give them increased ability to socialise when not on court. The Club is in quite an exposed location and may benefit from installation of screening around the court fences. It also needs a replacement store for its equipment which currently cannot all be kept on site.
If we can raise the sum of 5000.00 through crowdfunding this amount can be matched by a grant from Sport NI. The total sum of 10000.00 would really help us to achieve BLTC's Serving ACES Project goals.
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To achieve the aim of coaching provision for the targeted groups above, we will need more of our members to receive the training required to obtain an accredited coaching qualification. Tennis Ireland plans to run a Level One coaching course in Belfast over 4 weeks from mid-April and we hope that at least 3 of our existing members will be able to attend. This course includes a training module about basic skills required when coaching people with disabilities such as ADHD and autism. Tennis Ireland also hopes to provide a one day Tennis Leaders course which should be of interest to older juniors or to parents who may be prepared to assist BLTC coaches on a volunteer basis. We have identified a basic signing course/Makaton training locally which would enable our coaches to acquire the skills necessary to offer tennis coaching to people with hearing loss and communication difficulties. The money raised by the Serving ACES Project will be needed to pay for the above coaching course fees and subsequently to pay the coaches as they seek to advance the tennis skills of the targeted groups. It is anticipated that various free coaching courses will be offered over a six week period with each session lasting approximately one hour.
The remaining money would be spent on a weatherproof noticeboard and to purchase attractive and sturdy outdoor seating which would encourage and enable our members to spend time socialising with each other and any visitors to the club when not actually on court playing tennis. Any remaining or additional money raised above our target could be used to provide an equipment store as our current storage boxes are too small for our needs and falling apart. We would also like to buy protective screening for the fencing around our courts due to their exposed location.
BLTC already draws its members from a varied cross-section of people within the community but we have never provided coaching specifically for older people or foreign nationals nor have we run coaching programmes tailored either to children with special educational needs or people with disabilities. In doing so we would be introducing additional groups within society to the benefits and enjoyment which can be derived from playing tennis. Some of our existing members intend to encourage their parents to attend the course for senior citizens. We have contacted local schools about the courses we would like to run for children with special educational needs and several are very keen to avail of this opportunity for their pupils during the school summer term this year. We are aware of adults locally who have either hearing or sight loss and who could benefit from training specifically designed for people with these disabilities. We have also been in touch with Ballymena Ethnic Forum and interest has been shown in tennis coaching for foreign nationals new to the area by the local Ukrainian and Filipino communities.
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